Economy in Brief

The U.S. foreign trade deficit narrowed markedly to $38.7B in October from $44.6B in September (revised from $44.0B). Consensus forecasts had looked for a result unchanged from September. Both exports and imports contributed to the [...]

The happier mood adopted by the consumer this past summer brightened further this holiday season. During early-December the University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment rose to 74.4 from 71.6 last month. It was the highest level [...]

Firmness in oil prices continues to dominate this measure of overall U.S. import prices. During November, import prices jumped another 1.3% after an upwardly revised 1.0% October increase, initially reported as 0.9%. The increase [...]

Credit market borrowing grew $1,062 billion, seasonally adjusted annual rate, in Q3, almost twice as strong as Q2's $549 billion and the first push above $1 trillion since the market implosion in late 2008. These data are from the [...]

More angst in Euroland- Just in case there wasn’t enough to worry about in the e-Zone, Germany is now building a mild head of steam for inflation. The Yr/Yr rate is 1.4% while the three-month rate is 1.9%. The e-Zone as whole has an [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell back last week to 421,000 from 438,000 during the prior period (revised from 436,000). The trend level continued downward as the four-week moving average fell to 427,500, yet another new [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that a 0.9% w/w downtick in mortgage applications after a $16.5B plunge lowered them to the lowest since June. Last week's total decline reflected a 1.4% w/w drop in applications to refinance [...]

The consumer has started borrowing again but credit cards remain stashed away. The Federal Reserve indicated that consumer credit outstanding rose $3.3B during October after a downwardly revised $1.3B September increase. The gains [...]